Raccoon Pest Education and Removal
Understanding Raccoons: What They Look Like, How They Act, How Long They Live, What They Eat
All About Raccoons
Raccoons can be cute, a menace, and a curiosity. Wherever you find them, you have a lot of questions about them.
With their popularity in entertainment and the commonality in certain areas, you might wonder what makes raccoons what they are.
Like any animal, they have certain unique traits that set them apart. These traits are what made them popular, loved, and despised. It is also part of their survival.
If you have never seen a raccoon or have very little experience with them, you might be even more curious. They are an animal so many people know, after all, so what makes people have such strong emotions about them?
Appearance
The raccoons have a famous appearance. People call them bandits in part because of how they look. A black band around their eyes, black rings around the tail, and mostly grey fur is the famous image.
Most raccoons look like this, but they can vary in color, like brown. Grey remains the most common, which is why you see it in cartoons, movies, shows, books, and wherever else raccoons make an appearance.
Behavior
Another reason people call raccoons bandits is because they like to go through people’s things, mostly their trash. If the raccoon lives near humans, it will likely go through their garbage in search of food or goodies.
This is common behavior for raccoons. It is part of their survival. Since so many raccoons have lost their habitats to human development, and thus live close to humans, they will go through human belongings to find things they need or want.
In the wild, raccoons will do the same, but they also do a lot more foraging. They will swim, climb, and sniff around to find food. If it is too difficult, though, they will give up. They live their food easy to get.
Lifespan
Raccoons can live a few years in the wild, up to 3, though that length may differ for captive raccoons, like all animals.
Within the first year of life, they reach maturity and begin to have babies of their own. They will have multiple in a little.
Diet
A raccoon will eat nearly anything. Whether it is frogs, berries, or trash in a garbage can, raccoons will go after it. They like their food easy to get and they do not care where it is. Raccoons are completely opportunistic omnivores.
Raccoons are famous for their appearance and going through garbage cans. These are only part of their traits, though, and they have helped them to survive in their mostly human-heavy environments.
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